Six Months
by acogna
Summary: Six months to live, that's what the doctor said. Six months before his cancer would kill him. Six months to live the last moments of his life to the fullest. Six months to reconcile with everything and everyone. And six months to tell her that he loved her. Modern!AU. Major angst in later chapters.


**Hi again! **

**I'd like to introduce another SanoMegu fic that's been in my head for a while now, and this idea's been bugging me into writing it. So here it is, all nice and modern! This won't be as long as most of my other stories, but it's still pretty long nonetheless. This'll also be on a lot of breaks, so watch out. I won't be updating this often because life.**

**Before I begin, I'm going to mention **_**major character **__**death**_**; I think you can already tell who, too. This is going to get pretty angst-full in later chapters, but for now, it's going to be fluffy and kinda smutty, now that I think about it *raises eyebrows and smirks*. That's why it's rated M, too; also because Sano has a potty mouth and it needs to be washed with soap repeatedly. **

**Also, I'd like to dedicate this fic to two amazing RPers on tumblr, namely, thefighterforhire and i-megumi-takani. These two are astonishing; they're my RP senpais, and they literally deserve this fic. Probably even more than that, now that I think about it. If you're reading this, guys, I love you so much! Hope you'll like it! **

**Disclaimer: I write for fun. I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.**

* * *

A cellphone ringtone. That's how he woke up. He tried to ignore it at first but it continued to ring. Once. Twice. Fifteen times. He gave up and exasperatedly tried to reach for his phone, and, still lying down on his cozy bed, tried to discern with sleepy eyes the caller on the screen. It was Katsu. He slid the answer button and put the phone to his ear.

"Th' fuck do ya want?" he greeted rudely and sleepily.

"Is that _really _the way to greet your friend who made an effort to call you?" Katsu replied.

"Yeah it is, when your 'friend' wakes ya up from sleep."

He heard Katsu sigh. "Dude, it's nine in the morning."

He blinked and looked at his window covered with blinds, fragments of sunlight peeking out. Then he glanced to his neon electronic clock on his bedside table, which read 9:06 AM.

"Get your ass of that bed, Sano," the voice of Katsu interrupted his internal silence.

"Ugh, Katsu," Sano groaned, sitting up and scratching the back of his neck. "Ya know I haven't been feelin' well the past few weeks."

"Yeah, and that's the exact same reason why you should go out."

Sano pushed the covers away from him and sat at his bed, putting on his slippers. "Why is that?"

"Go out and breathe some air! See a doctor or something."

He gave a dry laugh while he picked a clean (well, _sort of _clean) shirt and jeans from his laundry. "Yeah, I don't _do _doctors, ya know that."

"C'mon, some of them can be pretty."

He scoffed. "Yeah, right."

He heard Katsu sigh again. "Fine, if you don't wanna go out of your lonely little cave of an apartment, that's totally okay. You're gonna die single, man, not my fault."

"Hey," Sano protested, pressing his phone to his ear using his shoulder, since both his hands were occupied putting his pants on. "Don't you _dare_ call me single."

"Awh, is the single jingle ready to mingle?" Katsu teased, chuckling on the phone.

"Shut up."

"Remember that one time you were out with what's-her-face?" Katsu continued. "And then you saw the other pretty girl and you just dumped her there and then?"

Sano rolled his eyes, putting his phone on speaker as he changed his shirt. "Katsu, shut th' fuck up."

"And remember that one time you went out and tried to date that weird blonde girl? The one who wore too much make-up and who always had that weird dog with her?" Katsu chuckled before Sano could respond. "How do you do it, man? Picking girls up left and right?"

"I dunno," Sano smirked as put his phone back to his ear and sat on his couch, tying his shoes. "Magic, I guess."

"Yeah, the magic of flirting."

Sano scoffed. "Katsu…"

"Wait, you're going off-topic with me, you little shit," Katsu said. "Go out. I'm telling you right now. Believe me, it'll help."

"Yeah, I'm already goin'," Sano tied on his last shoe. "Ya talked me into it."

"Great, see you."

Before Sano could hang up, Katsu hung up ahead of him. He sighed, pocketed his phone and grabbed a brown trench coat and orange scarf before locking his door after him.

* * *

The early days of November were often cold and chilly, but that could be made up for the trees whose leaves had gone ablaze with color all over Tokyo. The streets were adorned with tall trees with fiery colors of red and gold, the crisp-scented winds blew them to the ground, rolling on the pavements and roads. People who passed by Sanosuke on the slightly crowded streets had jackets upon jackets, scarves around their necks and fluffy bonnets and hats sheltering their hair. But who could blame anyone? The weather was chilling to the bone.

Sano kept his hands in his pockets while he took steady breaths, soaking the vibrant colors of autumn. He hated to admit it, but Katsu was right; walking around helped him clear his mind. Speaking of Katsu, he was _never _worried, for that matter. He didn't call every single day because he was the type to care the least, but ever since Sano had been feverish for weeks now, Katsu called every single chance he got. Sano never went to the doctor since a bunch of small fevers wasn't much of a big deal, but Katsu recommended to him a doctor from the hospital named Gensai and offered him his calling card a few days ago.

But Katsu was right to be worried. Sano's fevers were going on and off and he often felt tired and fatigued. He could't even go to work anymore, and he was forced to stay at home and skip classes at college. Not that it was much of a problem though, but it was going to _become_ a problem if he didn't get enough money. He made money out of going to fight clubs downtown and winning pay from bets, but due to his absence there, he was really missing a lot of chances to get extra cash. Ugh, that was the problem, wasn't it? That was actually one of the _last _things he wanted to worry about—trivial things like money—

His thoughts were interrupted when he bumped into a person on the street, making both of them stumble and fall.

Sano, still angry at his thoughts halting, rubbed his head and shouted. "Hey! Watch where you're going, ya—!"

He stopped once he realized the person was a woman, and she was looking down and rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. Apparently, she was holding a drink, and it spilled when she fell, her purple scarf and cloak stained with what seemed to be coffee. She looked up to Sano and laughed nervously, standing with shame and smoothing down her already ruined coat and skirt.

"I-I'm so sorry!" she stuttered, long midnight tresses swaying around her pretty face as she bowed. She adjusted her yellow bonnet then knelt to help him up. "Are you okay?"

Sano looked up at her as she offered a hand.

_'Oh wow…she's beautiful…'_

"Uh, n-no, it's okay," Sano stood up himself, rubbing his temple with a hand to soothe his aching head. "_I_ should be th' one sorry for runnin' into ya…y'know…your dress…"

The young woman blushed pure red and tried to cover the spill on her clothes. Sano, knowing it was courteous, removed and undid his orange scarf with a hand. The chill hit his nape and bit at his skin, but he didn't mind. He offered his scarf to the young woman, and the puzzled face she made at him was priceless.

"Here," he said, "take it. Cover up yourself."

She reluctantly took it and used it to obscure the stain on her dress. "Uh…thank you…"

He pocketed his hands again, satisfied by his own generosity and started walking down the direction the woman came from. "Come on, let's go."

She blinked in confusion. "What?"

"I'll buy ya another drink," Sano smirked at her. "It's the least I could do."

* * *

She sat at a table for two in the coffee shop she just went to, using the young man's scarf to cover up the annoying ugly stain spill made on her favorite purple scarf, blouse and skirt. She fumbled with the warm orange wool cloth, feeling its strangely comforting warmth, inhaling its intoxicating masculine smell. She tried to steal a glance at the young man lining up for her coffee, but when he turned to look at her, she forcibly turned away to look out the window at the lovely autumn outside, trying to dart her eyes away as she felt her heart pound in her neck.

"Hey."

She looked up and saw the young man holding her replacement coffee; he put it in front of her as he sat down. She thanked him, stirred the smoking drink as she tried to sneak glances at the stranger sitting across her; he was massaging a temple with his hand as he looked down on the table. He had spiky brown hair and four strands of them fell in front of his sleepy eyes of the same color, complimented by an angular face and a finely chiseled jaw line. He wore an open trench coat and the white shirt, but that didn't stop her wandering eyes from gazing at the groves of finely carved flesh the tight shirt traced. He had long legs and arms, and she _swore _she could see the muscles of his body moving with any small move he made, whether it was adjusting his sitting position or even moving his arms.

He was cute…okay, maybe not _just_ cute. Handsome. Good-looking. _Extremely _sexy…and that was probably still an understatement.

"Again, I'm _really_ sorry…" he said, breaking the silence as he groaned. "Ugh…really sorry…"

"It's okay, really," she replied. "The coffee is more than enough."

"No, but…" the young man put his elbows on the table and looked her in the eye. "I feel _really_ bad 'bout doin' this to ya, so just tell me if ya need anythin'." He scoffed with a smile and scratched his brown hair…which actually resembled a rooster if you looked at it long enough. "Sorry, I'm so impolite; I didn't even get your name."

"Megumi," she replied, continuing to stir her coffee as she held out a hand. "Takani Megumi."

He took her hand and shook it. "Sagara Sanosuke. Call me Sano."

She smiled awkwardly. "Okay…Sanosuke…" she paused, sipping her coffee. "Seriously though, you don't _have _to repay anything."

"No, I insist," Sanosuke's eyes gleamed with determination.

"Fine, fine," Megumi said exasperatedly then grinned. "I want you to ask something from me."

Sano blinked in confusion. "What?"

"I want you to ask something from me," Megumi repeated. "I'm telling you to do something for me, which should satisfy your debt, and you benefit by getting a thing out of it." She leaned back on her chair. "Ask away."

"Hmnnn," Sanosuke thought, tapping his chin before beaming and smiling slyly. "I know what: I want your number."

Megumi rolled her eyes with what seemed to be a faint smile as she took a sheet of tissue and a pen from her cloak and started writing it down. She slid the paper to him and he pocketed it with the most calloused yet slender hands Megumi had ever seen.

"Bet you use that on _all _the girls," Megumi slyly said, and Sanosuke swore she grew fox ears.

Sanosuke smirked, a new light appeared in his eyes and Megumi swore it wasn't there before. It made him look even more attractive than he already was. "Well, not _all _the girls. Just the pretty ones."

Megumi blushed a bit and she giggled, trying to release that intoxicating and addicting butterfly feeling at the bottom of her stomach. "Awh, stop it…"

Sanosuke chuckled before leaning back again, using the back of his palm to brush away the hair strands that covered his face. "You look like a fox, y'know…Megumi kitsune…_Megitsune…_"

Megumi giggled again and suddenly remembered the scarf he gave her once her fingertips brushed against it. With her eyes growing wide, she unknotted it with a hand and gave it back to him. "Oh yeah, here. Your scarf…" a moment of hesitation, "…you rooster-head."

Sanosuke held up a hand and shook his head, grinning. "Nah, keep it. Take it as a gift from this 'rooster-head'."

* * *

Dusk had found Sano walking alone back to his apartment, scarf-less, at that. The wind swept his trench coat back and forth, one hand in his pocket and the other typing and filling in the contact info of the young woman he met what seemed to be a few hours ago. He didn't pay attention to where he was going and let the people who were walking on the pavement part for him, like dividing a sea, while his eyes were glued nonchalantly on his screen.

'She said her name was Takani Megumi, right?' he thought. 'Nah…better to name her _Megitsune_ on my contacts. She'll never know, anyway.'

As he continued to fill in her info, he couldn't help but think about her. If there was anything striking about her, other than her adorable giggles and quaint yet fun personality, it was her appearance. Oh sweet Kami, how she even _dressed._ If beauty had a human incarnation, this was it. She was so breathtaking; her face and skin were fair, bringing out her deep brown cinnamon eyes and red lips. And her hair flowed down to her waist like long black waves, accented by long eyelashes and a ladylike posture in each step or movement she made. She was actually _more _than beautiful—she was hot. Even if she was wearing a large coat that flowed around her like a cape, the blouse and dress she wore perfectly and accurately outlined the definite edges and gentle curves of her body, highlighting her exact shape and—

His phone rang in his hand, interrupting his thoughts (and he mentally reprimanded himself for thinking like that). It was Katsu calling.

"Yeah?" he said into the phone.

"Well well well," the singsong tone replied. "You sound slightly better. Told you a walk would make your day. So, what happened?"

Sano chuckled. "Cut the crap."

"Oi, don't go dodging my questions."

Sanosuke sighed. After all, better he told Katsu before Katsu found out himself. The latter was dangerous. "Okay, so there was a girl—"

Katsu swooned teasingly, making Sano roll his eyes. "Oi oi oi…did you hit on her?"

"No," Sano retorted before giving in. "Okay, I _did _ask for her number, but—"

He was interrupted by another swoon on the line. "Oh man, we'll have another girl on Sano's looooong list of ex-girlfriends!"

"Kats—"

"Woah, wait…" he groaned. "Ugh, there I am going off-topic again. Dude, I didn't call to check on your non-existent love-life. I came to check on your health."

Sano wanted to retort to the "non-existent love-life" thing, but the health mention concerned him even more. "Can ya stop askin' 'bout my hea—"

"It's serious, Sano…"

At this, Sanosuke stopped. He literally stopped. His walking ceased and he stood in place, forgetting the fact that he was on an open sidewalk and people passed around him like a rock divided a current. His thoughts stopped as well…and they were replaced by fear. Katsu always joked. And whenever he said something was serious, it was a matter of life and death.

"Is it _that _serious?" Sanosuke's voice slightly trembled.

"Yeah," Katsu replied gravely. He paused on the line. "Look, Sano…I think you're sick. _Really _sick."

Sanosuke stayed silent for a while. He felt himself grow weak—physically weak—at those words. "Okay…"

"I called the doctor, y'know…Gensai-sensei…" Katsu paused. "I scheduled a bone marrow test for you. Next week."

Sano froze.

Katsu sighed. "Dude, I'm so sorry, it's just that—"

"Katsu, what th' hell?!" Sano protested, casting out his anger into his voice. "I'm not sick! And do ya know how much money bone marrow tests cost? And how _painful _they are?!"

"Don't worry about the money; I'll pay for the test. You can tolerate pain too, can't you? Where did the 'toughness is my strong point' crap go? And you _are _sick, Sano. Don't deny that."

Sano's anger made him clench his free hand, but he realized with dread that he didn't clench it as strong as he used to. He used to feel his fingernails dig deep into the palm of his skin and it wouldn't hurt one bit, but now it felt like his fingers couldn't even curl properly anymore. He _was _growing sick.

"Please, Sano," Katsu begged. "You _have _to rest."

Sanosuke sighed, continuing his walk back to his apartment. "Fine. You win. Meet me at my apartment a week from now. You're driving."

"Okay. Got it."

Katsu hung up. Sano pocketed his phone and sighed.

Was Katsu joking? A _bone marrow test? _Truth to be told, Sano was no doctor and had little knowledge of anything medical, but just _listening _to the words "bone marrow test" made him cringe. However, he didn't want to admit the fact that he was sick. He knew he was ill, but with _what _he was ill with was beyond his knowledge. Well, let's look on the bright side: his strong point was his toughness, wasn't it? And besides, the sooner he got this over with, the sooner Katsu would stop pestering him.

Sanosuke took out his phone and looked though his contacts. The name "Megitsune" flashed past and he seriously couldn't resist typing her a message.

Hey Megitsune. It's Sano. Wanna have lunch Thursday at the coffee shop?

Sano pocketed his phone. Moments later, his phone received another message, and he had to unearth it from his coat to read it. It was from Megumi.

Sure! I'd love to :)


End file.
